A bill introduced in Brazil’s Minas Gerais state legislature would require identity and age verification via facial recognition before users can access content deemed inappropriate for children and adolescents. PL 5457/2026, sponsored by Deputado Carlos Henrique (Republicanos), was presented in the plenary on April 14 and published in the state legislative diary on April 16.
The bill’s ementa obligates internet application providers, digital platforms, and websites operating in the state to adopt identity and age verification mechanisms using facial recognition technology before delivering restricted content. The content categories covered include pornographic or sexual material, content depicting extreme violence, gambling-related content, and additional categories to be defined through implementing regulation. The draft text specifies that biometric data collected through the verification mechanism must be used exclusively for the verification purpose and must be protected under applicable data protection law.
Procedurally, PL 5457/2026 has been attached to PL 3142/2024, a pre-existing related bill, under Article 173, paragraph 2 of the Assembleia Legislativa’s internal rules. The attachment means the bill will not advance as a standalone proposition but will be processed jointly with PL 3142/2024’s trajectory. The overall regime of deliberation in the Assembleia requires two rounds of plenary voting. No committee assignment has been reported for the combined proposition as of publication.
The state-level proposal arrives against a backdrop of active federal activity on the same question. Brazil’s federal Lei 15.211/2025, commonly referred to as Lei Felca or the ECA Digital, took effect on March 17, 2026 and requires platforms to move from self-declaration to reliable age-verification mechanisms for content deemed inappropriate for minors. ANPD has published implementing age-assurance guidance listing facial recognition with age estimation as one of the acceptable methods, alongside other mechanisms.
A state-level mandate on specific technology raises a constitutional question of federal preemption. Content platform regulation in Brazil sits primarily under federal jurisdiction through the Marco Civil da Internet and the ECA Digital, and a state law prescribing a specific verification modality for digital platforms is likely to face legal challenges on preemption grounds if enacted. Brazilian courts have shown willingness to engage with biometric verification questions: a Brazilian court backed biometric age checks in a landmark ruling involving a betting firm, indicating that biometric verification for age-gated services has a path through the judicial system even where the legislative picture is unsettled.
Whether PL 5457/2026 advances depends on the trajectory of the parent bill to which it is attached and on whether the Assembleia’s leadership accepts the state-level regulatory scope the bill envisions for a domain that the federal government has now moved to occupy.
Sources: Assembleia Legislativa de Minas Gerais
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By the ID Tech Editorial Team
